Method and machine for making cushion pads



Jan. 2 1, 1936.` A. GRARD n AL 2,028,388

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKYING CUSHION PADS Original Filed Jan. 16, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 21, 1936. j A. GERARD'- E-r AL METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING CUSHION PADS Original Filed Jan. 16, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jilin. 21, 1936 .UNITED STATES METHOD MACHINE FOR MAKING CUSHION PADS August Gerard and George A. Gerard, 'Rendim-g, y Mass., assignors Vto Cotton-Wood Products, Inc., Reading, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts original application January 16, 1929, srlal No. 332,888. Divided and this application October 16, 1933, serial No.y 692,946

7 Claims. (Cl. '15de-33) This invention-relates to methodsand machlnes for making ber products having cushioning or insulating characteristics and more particularly to ber productsof the type described in the Gerard and Weisman `Patent No. 1,837,261, granted December 22, 1931, and ourco-pending application Serial No. 332,888, led January 16, 1929, issued'as Patent No. 1,959,951, of which this application'is a division.

Heretofore, eiorts have been made to manufacture cushion pads, and the like, from wood pulp ber with more or less success, but it has been necessary in most cases for the manufacturer to cut up the stock to suit his particular requirements as to sizes etc., and because of the nature of this material,v it has been diflicult to supplyv pads that would stand up under modern handling methods. u l

`The material from which our padsV are made i. l -is composed of old newspapers, or other waste' paper, or similar materials, which are beaten while dry, into relatively small particles consist -ing of separate bers of substantially lompletely disintegrated paper and of small akes of incompletely disintegrated paper having a greater maximum length than that of said bers. These Jparticles are produced in such proportions that when thoroughly intermingled, the bersform a soft wadding between the akes, and the re- 30 sulting combination consists of akes' dispersed throughl thev soft wadding in interlocking relationship therewith.

A laminated product having cushioning and insulating characteristics may be made by enclosing flakes and bers as a cushioning layer be.

as described in said patent.

The principal object of'the present invention is to provide a method and machine'for making tweenl sheets of fabric material,- such as paper,

40 a cushion pad of-tlie lgeneraltypedisclosed in the above-mentioned patent, but with sealededges to prevent loss of any material from the cushion layer.

Other objects and novel features comprising the construction and operation or our invention will appear /as the description oi the machine -progresses.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus in which the nearsi'de frame has been /removed for purposes of illustration; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view o! the delivery end or the container from which the brous material is discharged onto the ,cementitious surface of the lower enclosing material, and further indicat- 55 ing'the means by which the brous material is.`

jportion o1' the machine,- as viewed in Fig. 1, is composed of a roll'22 comprising the upper endivided longitudinally of the said lower enclosing material; Fig. 3 is a typical cross-section of the mechanism which actuates the transverse cutter located at the extreme left end 4of the' machine as viewed'in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a schematic 5 layout of the electrical trip mechanism associated with the delivery end of theA container from which the fibrous material is discharged; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the pads made in this machine after having been severed; Fig. Bis a section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5; and Figs. 7 and 8 are wiring diagrams showing con-- nection between the several solenoids which operate the cutter, and the cover plate on the hopper.l l s Referring to Fig. 1, paper, such as waste paper and particularly old newspapers or other bers of similar characteristics, are fed from an initial grinder into the hopper Qbly means of air pressure through the inlet pipe I which is provided at its top with a screen I2 for thepurpose of reylieving the .air pressure and at thesame time retaining the ground paper .inside the hopper I0. At the lower right end of the machine is mounted a roll of enclosing fabric, such as paper, and 25 indicated by the numeral I3 from which the cementitious container I8 is located an immersed roll I9 engaging with a delivery roll 28, the 35 upper side of the container I8 being provided with a cut away portion for the purpose of projecting the periphery of the roll 20 into contact with the enclosing material I4 in contact with the face of `the roll- I6, `and depositing the cementi- `4Q ltious material on the upper surface 'of such material Il. For purposes o'f illustration, the near side franleof the machine has been removed, is practically the same as the far side frame 2| illustrated in Fig. 1, and 'all members such as the hopper I0, material roll I3, rolls I5, I6 and I'I, and container I8 may. be mounted therebetween. A similar arrangement located on the upper right 50 closing material 28, feeding 'down over the rolls 24 and 25. Another cementitious container I8a, together witlirolls I 8a and 28a, similar in respects to the container I8, and rolls I9 and 20 is located between the side frames 2|, and con- 5 5 series of agitator vpaddles 26 for the purpose of keeping the fibrous material therein contained in motion, and with the gradual workingv down of same to a point adjacent the outlet end of the container or hopper I0. A continuous belt drive is provided at 21, engaging the paddle pulleys 28, and idler pulleys 29, the power being applied through a drive shaft 30, and drive pulley 3l, from any suitable source from without the removed side frame 2 I. A secondary series ofsmall agitator paddles 32, located at the extreme lower portion of the hopper I 8, may also be driven from the vdrive lshaft 30 by means of a pulley 33 and a belt 34, engaging with a pulley 35 located on a suitable drive shaft connecting said secondary paddles.

Fig. 2'i1lustrates a cut-away perspective view of the lower discharge end of the hopper IIJ, with a sheet of material I4 in place, and a quantity'of fibrous material deposited thereon as indicated .at 36. separators 31 and side deectors 38 are provided for the purpose of separating the bers at predetermined places, as indicated` at 39, on which cementitious material has been deposited such that when the lower and upper enclosing materials I4 and 23 respectively pass under the roll 25, which is in close contact with the roll 40 directly below, the bare strips 39, except of cementitious material thereon deposited, will adhere together. The brous material 36 is maintained in positin and in contact with the enclosing materials I4 and 23 by means of the cementitious material applied to the inner surfaces of such enclosing materials, and the principal purpose of the rolls 25 and 40 is to'produce this union although such rolls 25 and 48 to a limited extent will effect a seal along the clear spaces 29, and also the transverse spaces 4I. In order to assure a perfect seal of the edges or clear spaces 39, we have further provided sealing rolls 42 mounted on a common shaft in -alignment Y with and to the left of the rolls 25 and 4I). Such rolls 42 are of proper width vcorresponding to the width of the clear spaces 39, and in alignment longitudinally thereto, insure pressure at such points suilicient to insure a perfect seal through the entire pad or series of pads. Following the rolls 42 and in horizontal alignment thereto, are a series of splitting cutter disks 43 for the purpose of separating the pads midway between the ber deposits, or at the central portion of the clear spaces 39.' At the extreme left end of the machine is mounted a transverse knife blade 45 operating in synchronism with a hinged cover 46 illustrated in Fig. 4, the cover 46 being adapted to close the opening in the bottom of the hopper I for a short interval of time for the purpose of producing the transverse clear portions y4I on the lower enclosing material I4 which, together with the upper enclosing material 23,

. is in continuous motion toward the left-hand end of the machine. The plate 46 is provldedwith an upright lever arm 41 pivoted at a central point 48, to an outwardlyextended bracket 49 comprising a part of the hopper II). The upper portion 'of this lever 41 is adapted to engage with the core 58 .of a solenoid 5I, the plate 46 being held in open relation with the hopper I0 by means of a coil spring 52 during such time as the sole- :noid is de-energized. The knife blade 45, bet- 'tasting with ,the material 23, at a point adjater illustrated at Fig. 3, is attached to slidably mounted cores 53 located within the solenoid windings 54, and held in .an extended position during the intervals in which the windings 54- are de-energized, by means of the coil compression springs 55. Guide rods 56, preferably of a nonmagnetic nature, may be used as slide members for the cores 53, the lower end of whichmay be secured to any suitable part of the stationary frame of the machine. On the inside of the side frame 2l, preferably on the near side shown removed in Fig. 1, is pivotally mounted at 51 an electrical contact member comprising a hollow tubular member 58, one end of which is provided. with two electrical contact members 59 imbedded in an insulated plug 68. On the under side of this tubular member 58, and rigidly attached thereto, is a downwardly extending' lever 6I which is attached to a tension spring 62, the opposite end of which is attached to a pin 63 located on the inner side of the near side frame 2 I, removed from Fig. 1, for purposes of illustration. A chain drive 64 is provided to engage suitable sprockets on'the rolls I1 and 46, together with an idler sprocket 65 located within a frame 66 provided therefor and attached to the side frames 2I of the machine, and on this chain 64 at proper intervals are located upstanding obstructions 61 for the purpose of engaging with the arm 6I. 0n the inside of the tubular member 58, We have provided a ball of mercury 68 so that when the chain member 61 engages with the arml 6I, the tubular member 58 is tilted on the pivot 51 and the mercury ball 68 rolls into contact with the bare contact members 59 and closes a circuit which passes through the solenoid 5 I, opening the hopper cover plate 46, and at the same time passing through the coils 54 and actuating the cutter blade 45 which severs a series of the pads 10. At all times in which the current is shut oif, the lower opening of the hopper I0 is open and the fibrous material 36 is being deposited upon the continuously moving lower enclosing material I4 except at such places as are indicated at 31 and 38, in Fig. 2, but when the windings 54 are energized together with the solenoid 5I, the plate 46 closes the opening yin the hopper II) and produces the bare transverseh portions 4I and at.this

for his requirements and thereby making it unnecessary for him to buy his stock in large sheets and cut it up himself, and the fact' that these pads are glued on all four edges renders them more substantial and desirable from the user's point of view, as of course they may be used over and over again.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A method, of making a laminated cushion pad which consists in laying on a continuously traveling sheet a layer of fibrous material in areas separated by spaces transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet, enclosing the separated portions of said layer between fabric sheets, cementing the sheets together in said spaces, and.

time the cutter 45 cuts oil a series of pads on the around the edges of the layer, and severing the sheet in said spaces.

2. A method of making a laminated cushion pad which consists in depositing on a continuously traveling sheet a layer of ground brous material, intermittently stopping the deposit of material at intervals to form transverse spaces, enclosing the material between fabric sheets, cementing the sheets in said spaces, and severing the sheets in said spaces. v

3. A method of making a laminated cushion pad which consists in depositing on a traveling fabric sheet a layer of ground fibrous material,

preventing the deposit of material at spaced areas across the sheet whereby longitudinal spaces are formed, enclosing the material between fabric sheets, securing the sheets together in saidspaces, and continuously severing the sheets along longitudinal lines in said spaces.

4. A method of making a laminatedA cushion pad which consists in laying on a continuously traveling sheet a layer of 'ground brous material in areas separated byspaces extending both longitudinally and transversely of the sheets, enclosing the material between fabric sheets, ce-

menting the sheets in said spaces, continuously severing the sheets in the longitudinal spaces,

and intermittently severing the sheets in the transverse spaces.

' 5. A machine for making a laminated cushion pad comprising a. hopper for ground fibrous material, means for passing a fabric sheet continuously below the hopper, means for feeding material from the hopper 4to the sheet, means-for forming transverse spaces in which no material is present, means for enclosing the material be- 5 tween fabric sheets, sealing means, and a cutter operated in synchronism with the space forming means to sever the pad in the transverse spaces.

6. -A machine for making a laminated cushion pad comprising a hopper for ground fibrous material, means for passing a fabric sheet continously below the hopper, means for preventing deposit of material 'along spaces disposed vlongititudinally of the sheet, means for enclosing the material between fabric sheets, and continuously acting cutters for longitudinally severing the pad in said spaces.

7. A machine for making a laminated cushion pad comprising a hopper for ground fibrous material, means forvpassing a fabric sheet continuously below the hopper, a closure for the hopper, means normally holding the closure open, means for intermittently closing the hopper to leave transverse spaces across the fabric, means for enclosing the material between traveling sheets, sealing means, and a cutter intermittently operated in synchronism with the closure to sever the pad in said transverse spaces.

AUGUST GERARD. GEORGE A. GERARD. 

